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Also glass and steel. Rare earth materials like batteries are very productively recycled. Paper recycling isn't awful either, but more of a wash than a win.
by newacct583 6y ago
Also glass and steel. Rare earth materials like batteries are very productively recycled. Paper recycling isn't awful either, but more of a wash than a win.
Really, it's thermoplastic disposables that are the real problem here. Those don't recycle (except some very specific items), and frankly never really did. The straw bans are just the tip of the iceberg here. We need to be talking about banning all plastic disposables.
- dmurray 6y agoPaper/cardboard can be quite worthwhile. This article [0] was discussed on HN not so long ago. And some plastics too (I used to work for a firm that sold its waste PVC). The real discrepancy is between consumers and businesses recycling. Businesses can have a clean, unadulterated stream of waste, likely trivial for them to sort at scale. Most consumer recycling is useful for awareness at best and distraction at worst, like California shaming people into fixing their leaky taps during droughts when a billion times as much water is diverted to almond farming. [0] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51420503 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51420503
- toomuchtodo 6y agoAll consumer waste streams should be filtered for metals and then shoveled into a plasma gasifier. You’re not going to break even on the energy input (source renewables to cover anything above what you generate from burning the syngas byproduct), but you’re going to break everything down into something that be trivially landfilled or used as aggregate for asphalt repaving (slag) and burn the syngas for power.
- dmurray 6y agoAren't there some waste materials you'd prefer to bury in the ground than oxidise and release into the atmosphere near a city? I don't know much about this but I suspect you're over-simplifying.
- toomuchtodo 6y agoGasification uses a plasma arc to break down the molecular bonds of the waste (molecular dissociation) versus incineration oxidation; it can be used for industrial and hazardous waste you’d want to avoid incinerating, and release of anything toxic is greatly reduced. The link below has examples of two such facilities that operated successfully in Japan about two decades ago; one shut down because the Japanese improved their waste stream recycling, depriving the facility of the necessary feedstock to continue operations. https://www.netl.doe.gov/research/Coal/energy-systems/gasification/gasifipedia/westinghouse https://www.netl.doe.gov/research/Coal/energy-systems/gasifi...
- reportingsjr 6y agoYou nailed it. In the last day or two the midwestern city I live in (Cincinnati) banned single use plasic bags, and a major manufacturer here (P&G) is very slowly working towards making some products slightly more recyclable/use less plastic. So there is a little bit of hope!
- Scoundreller 6y ago> a major manufacturer here (P&G) is very slowly working towards making some products slightly more recyclable/use less plastic After decades of shrinkflation? (reducing the amount of product per package, so you need to buy more packages per year)
- chrisgd 6y ago“Also glass and steel”? Meaning they do not get recycled either?
- newacct583 6y agoNo, they do. The grandparent pointed out that aluminum recycles well. I pointed out that there are other consumer recyclables that already work well. But plastics don't.
- chrisgd 6y agoThanks
- closeparen 6y agoAre there alternatives for these use cases that can stand up to moisture? The ones I’m seeing around California do not.
- bgorman 6y agoWhat about biodegradable plastics?
- flyingfences 6y agoMost "biodegradable" plastics aren't naturally biodegradable like compost. They need a special facility with high temperatures and other conditions.